Jane's Revenge

On May 6, 2022, a draft opinion for the Supreme Court of the United States case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization was leaked to the public.[9] The draft pointed to an imminent overturning of two previous decisions, Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which had inferred constitutional protections for abortion rights. The group formed in response to the leak,[7] posting their first communiqué on May 8. The name "Jane's Revenge" is possibly a reference to pseudonymous "Jane Roe" of Roe v. Wade, or the Jane Collective, an underground organization founded by Heather Booth that helped women obtain abortions prior to the Roe v. Wade decision.[10]

After the June 24 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the organization is attributed with having vandalized at least one crisis pregnancy center, in Virginia,[11] and committing arson at a second center in Colorado.[12] The FBI was called in to investigate the instance of arson in Colorado.[13]

On June 28, The Intercept reported that Facebook had internally labeled the group as a terrorist organization, making the topic subject to the most stringent content filtering.[14]

In March 2023, a superseding indictment named four individuals facing federal charges under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act for vandalizing and threatening clinics providing reproductive health services. [15] Some have called this as a misappropriation of a law intended to protect access to abortion providers, while criticizing the FBI's disproportionate response to groups targeting crisis pregnancy centers compared to attacks on abortion clinics, which occur with far more frequency.[16][17]

The May 8, 2022 attempted firebombing of a crisis pregnancy center in Madison, Wisconsin was the first incident claimed by Jane's Revenge.[18] In a statement issued after the attack, the group demanded the disbanding of anti-abortion organizations, with a threat of "increasingly extreme attacks",[19] including a "Night of Rage", should Roe v. Wade be overturned by the Supreme Court.[20]

Attacks on crisis pregnancy centers and a Congressman's office have been made in the group's name[21] in New York,[22] North Carolina, Washington, Wisconsin, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa,[2] Florida, the District of Columbia, Virginia,[11] and potentially Oregon.[23] Mary Ziegler, a law professor at University of California, Davis, has attributed the actions of the group to a growing distrust in government and democratic institutions.[6]

The claimed main public mouthpiece is an anonymous blog, which lists actions taken signed with "Jane's Revenge" and sometimes takes credit.[24]

In May 2022, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) stated that the group involved in an ongoing investigation. The Madison, Wisconsin police department announced an investigation in collaboration with the ATF.[19]

In June 2022, after the Dobbs v. Jackson decision was released, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a memo concerning the group. The memo described Jane's Revenge as "a network of loosely affiliated suspected violent extremists [which] has been linked to arson attacks against the buildings of ideological opponents", warning of risk of violence that "could occur for weeks following the release" of the Supreme Court decision.[34]

In July 2022, the public information officer for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said "I don't think that there's any reason to believe, at this point, that it's a part of some group that's specifically going around to other places nationally".[24]

• Anti-abortion violence
• Suffragette bombing and arson campaign